Back from Rehab
by fanakapan
Summary: Kirsten returns. involves Kirsten, Sandy, Seth, Ryan. and a sofa.


Kirsten looked back briefly at the room that had been hers for the last two months. She had slept there alone every night and she had expected to get used to it eventually; however she had never slept well and felt nothing but relief after shutting the door behind her.

'Mrs Cohen, your sons are here.' Kirsten felt momentarily puzzled that Sandy wasn't there but the sight of Seth and Ryan filled her mind with happiness- they had not changed in their appearance: Seth was lanky and slouching, Ryan stood with his hands in his pockets looking uncomfortable. None of the three were ones for public displays of affection but their happiness was obvious: Seth put his arm round his mother's shoulder whilst Ryan, smiling, lifted her suitcase.

'Thanks Ryan- Seth, there's another case right there if you felt inclined to help.' Seth looked at his mother:

'Mum, you've only been away for eight weeks- that's not enough time to build biceps that work effectively.' She pushed him after Ryan and turned to the doctor.

'Thankyou so much; if it hadn't been for you I would have no husband and my life would have been..disastrous.' She laughed, slightly embarrassed, and the doctor looked kindly at her:

'Trust me, your quick recovery was more thanks to you and your change of mind than any help I could have given.' She hugged him quickly and waved to some of the nurses:

'Thanks: I hope I'll see you all again, but hopefully not for the same reasons.' She walked out the door, a completely different person to the one that had walked in so reluctantly eight weeks previously.

The journey back to the house was filled with Seth's endless chatter which, for the most part, made no sense to Kirsten.

'So Ryan, how's Marissa? Poor girl. And you, are you ok now?' Ryan shrugged as an answer to both questions, and after a few seconds expanded on his explanation:

'She's alright- she's back at counselling but I think it's actually helping this time.' Before he could say more, Seth interrupted with the story of his own situation:

'Mum? I know you are desperate to know how my love life is doing and I'll save the effort of asking. Me and Summer are fully back together which is great. Not just for me you understand but for all of us.' Ryan and Kirsten looked at him, eyebrows raised.

'Uh-huh…yeah, mum, your son has changed for the better. No more selfishness; I am so selfless and generous that I have a following of fans. Just you wait mum, in a few hours time you won't be able to help yourself- you'll be a willing member of the new religion I have created that is centred around myself.' Although Kirsten knew Seth was talking rubbish, she could sense a change in her son; he was visibly happier and in very high spirits. Kirsten was almost as contented as him, but there was one thought niggling at the back of her mind. Interrupting Seth once more she asked:

'How's Sandy?' Both sons knew at once she meant 'why didn't Sandy pick me up?' and so Ryan answered:

'Sandy's been really busy lately with a case- it's taking up all his time. They fixed the court dates for today: he tried to change them, even tried to get out of it, so that he could pick you up but they said that he had to be in court every day for the next 10 days, starting this morning.'

'He was really down when he couldn't pick you up, mum; he didn't go surfing and seriously, he has been doing that religiously. Woah…he was angry this morning. And when dad's angry it's scary. So let's pray his day in court went well, otherwise his wrath will be worse than…..' Seth paused, searching for a suitable comparison '…Satan?'.

The house looked the same from the outside apart from the fact that here was a huge sofa sitting in front of it.

'Er…maybe dad's been getting at one with nature…' said Seth. Ryan explained that he and Sandy had chosen a new sofa for in front of the television because the springs in the old one had broken.

'Seth, I see the actual men of the family have been ganging up on you.' Said Kirsten, laughing at Seth's indignant face.

'Ryan I can't believe you chose such a vital piece of furniture without me. After all I am the king of the playstation and the king of the telly. In fact, I was mainly responsible for the fall of the other sofa. And you didn't even tell me you were going to abolish the only friend I had in our household furniture.'

When Kirsten walked into her house she was overwhelmed with relief and happiness. She felt that, at last, her life could go back to normal. The interior of the house had changed in that it was covered with various possessions and objects belonging to her husband and her sons along with other things like a cardigan and a new copy of 'Vogue' that (she hoped) didn't belong to the permanent inhabitants of the house.

'Er..yeah, sorry- we would have tidied up..' Ryan said, trying to ignore Seth's look of disbelief. Kirsten said nothing: she actually wasn't that bothered about the mess- it was all part of the life she loved. Seth noticed the television screen, frozen on pause in the middle of an intense ninja battle; he dived over the sofa, whose springs completely gave way and grabbed the control from where he was wedged in the frame of the sofa. Ryan landed on the floor next to him and they resumed their battle with ferocious competition.

Kirsten went upstairs, leaving her bags in the hall. When she went into her room she fell onto the bed and inhaled the smell that she loved which stained the pillows and the sheets.

'Sandy' she murmured. She lifted her head and looked out of the huge glass window which gave such a spectacular view that it never failed to hold her gaze. The ocean lay blue and heaving, proceeded by various similarly expensive and beautiful mansions that were inhabited by rich and mostly beautiful people. She lay for half an hour, blissfully happy and not minding the fact that her sons were too involved in their ninja battle to check up on her. She supposed it didn't even occur to them that she could be recovering a completely different way, maybe be downing a whole bottle of vodka. The thought of doing something like that was foreign to Kirsten now- she didn't want to think about how messed up she had been.

Sandy was getting increasingly annoyed. The opposition had been presenting their case for over an three hours now and were now arguing the same point for the fourth time, in a slightly different tone of voice. He wondered whether the boys and Kirsten would be back yet. He couldn't believe he was here in this courtroom whilst his wife came back home: a moment he had been waiting for for the past 56 days. The rest of the man's speech passed in a sort of slow-moving haze. At 7.13 Sandy was sprinting through the doors and one minute later was starting the engine of the car. The traffic, although not abnormally bad, seemed infuriatingly static and Sandy found himself considering the option and leaving his car and reaching his house by foot. At 7.30 pm he pulled up the driveway to his house and screeched to a halt, missing the large green sofa by about an inch. He vaulted over the sofa and noticed with pleasure the springiness of the seat. The door slammed shut and the sofa was left to face a long night on the drive by itself.

Kirsten heard the door slam shut and she immediately got off the bed where she had been waiting for that sound. Sandy yelled a greeting to the boys and briefly wondered why Seth was sitting in, rather than on, the sofa. He ran up the stairs and into the bedroom which had felt so empty since she had gone. He saw his wife standing by the bed: she was so beautiful- she had always been so but in the last year her beauty had been haunted and sad. Now she was almost glowing with happiness. Her figure, although still slender and slight, had filled out so she looked healthy once more. Her face looked longingly at him and the moisture glistening in her eyes gave away the emotion she was feeling.

'Sandy.' She said once more. After a seconds pause in which they simply looked at each other, Kirsten rushed towards her husband and into his arms. He felt her body shaking and knew she was crying.

'Baby..'

'Sandy, I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I've missed you…'

'I know, baby. I love you more than you know, and we've got through this now.' She lifted her face out of his shoulder and turned it up to his. Her blue eyes were bright were tears. He cupped her face with his hand and gently kissed her, and a wave of ecstasy swept through them both as they recognised each other's feel and taste. Their kisses became more urgent and they clutched at each other tightly. Five minutes later they broke apart so their faces were an inch apart. Seth's voice broke through the bubble that surrounded them, the bubble which blocked out everything apart from themselves.

'Er…dad? I think we should bring the sofa in now. I don't feel that…ow… I can take part in this effort partly because I can't bring myself to …ouch…reject our present sofa but mostly because …hey give me back my leg…I'm stuck inside it which is an experience none of you ever want to go through; trust me on this one…Ryan? Help me, the sofa's eating my leg'


End file.
